Welder Apparatus and Methods

ABSTRACT

Processes of providing power to a welding wand are provided that include pulsing power from a power source to an inductor, and then providing constant power from the inductor to the welding wand.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/340,904 which was filed Nov. 1, 2016, entitled “Welder Apparatus and Methods”, which claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/249,555 which was filed on Nov. 2, 2015, entitled “Welder Apparatus and Methods”, the entirety of each of which is incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field is welding apparatus and methods, particularly, battery powered and/or portable welding apparatus and methods.

BACKGROUND

For shop work, such as automobile repair, for example, it is more and more important to be able to weld materials in an inert atmosphere utilizing welders that have constant feed wiring assemblies. It is desirable that these welders are small and/or portable and can be moved to different locations of the shop and/or transported using a vehicle to remote locations outside the shop, for example. The present disclosure provides a welder assembly that can utilize automotive type batteries and be portable to different locations while providing constant feed wiring for welding in inert locations.

DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the disclosure are described below with reference to the following accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a welding apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is another view of the welding apparatus of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a controller board for use within the welding apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an example inductor configuration according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C are inductor configurations for use with the welding apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION

This disclosure is submitted in furtherance of the constitutional purposes of the U.S. Patent Laws “to promote the progress of science and useful arts” (Article 1, Section 8).

The welding apparatus and methods will be described with reference to FIGS. 1-5C. Referring first to FIG. 1, welding apparatus 10 includes a battery package 12 that can be for example, two 12 volt wet cell automotive type batteries that are connected in series to provide 24 volt power when the power switch is closed. The power switch can be electrically located between the positive terminal of the lower 12 volt battery and the negative terminal of the upper 12 volt battery (not shown). The batteries can be rechargeable with a dual 12 volt charger system that mounts to the top of the chassis, for example. The two 12 volt batteries can be located on the bottom shelf of the welder chassis as shown in apparatus 10. Apparatus 10 can also include a processing circuitry board 14 as well as an inductor 16. These components can be contained within housing 18 as shown.

Referring next to FIG. 2, apparatus 10 is shown in another view to depict housing 18 that encompasses inductor 16 as well as constant feed wiring spool 20, for example. Component 19 houses a portable battery charger than may be used with or without apparatus 10. This battery charger is of standard components but configured to accompany the small footprint of apparatus 10 as desired.

Referring next to FIG. 3, an example circuit board 14 is shown. Circuit board 14 can include processing circuitry. The processor can include personal computing system that includes a computer processing unit that can include one or more microprocessors, one or more support circuits, circuits that include power supplies, clocks, input/output interfaces, circuitry, and the like. Generally, all computer processing units described herein can be of the same general type. The computing system can include a memory that can include random access memory, read only memory, removable disc memory, flash memory, and various combinations of these types of memory. The memory can be referred to as a main memory and be part of a cache memory or buffer memory. The memory can store various software packages and components such as an operating system. The computing system may also include a web server that can be of any type of computing device adapted to distribute data and process data requests. The web server can be configured to execute system application software such as the reminder schedule software, databases, electronic mail, and the like. The memory of the web server can include system application interfaces for interacting with users and one or more third party applications. Computer systems of the present disclosure can be standalone or work in combination with other servers and other computer systems that can be utilized, for example, with larger corporate systems such as financial institutions, insurance providers, and/or software support providers. The system is not limited to a specific operating system but may be adapted to run on multiple operating systems such as, for example, Linux and/or Microsoft Windows. The computing system can be coupled to a server and this server can be located on the same site as computer system or at a remote location, for example.

In accordance with example implementations, these processes may be utilized in connection with the processing circuitry described. The processes may use software and/or hardware of the following combinations or types. For example, with respect to server-side languages, the circuitry may use Java, Python, PHP, .NET, Ruby, Javascript, or Dart, for example. Some other types of servers that the systems may use include Apache/PHP, .NET, Ruby, NodeJS, Java, and/or Python. Databases that may be utilized are Oracle, MySQL, SQL, NoSQL, or SQLLite (for Mobile). Client-side languages that may be used, this would be the user side languages, for example, are ASM, C, C++, C#, Java, Objective-C, Swift, Actionscript/Adobe AIR, or Javascript/HTML5. Communications between the server and client may be utilized using TCP/UDP Socket based connections, for example, as Third Party data network services that may be used include GSM, LTE, HSPA, UMTS, CDMA, WiMax, WiFi, Cable, and DSL. The hardware platforms that may be utilized within processing circuitry include embedded systems such as (Raspberry PI/Arduino), (Android, iOS, Windows Mobile)—phones and/or tablets, or any embedded system using these operating systems, i.e., cars, watches, glasses, headphones, augmented reality wear etc., or desktops/laptops/hybrids (Mac, Windows, Linux). The architectures that may be utilized for software and hardware interfaces include x86 (including x86-64), or ARM.

This processing circuitry can be configured to control the welder and be part of and also include a weld control board, FET switches, current sensor, and control potentiometers. This control can monitor the weld current and system voltage to ensure that the system is working within the established limits set in the firmware of the master control unit, which is also part of the processing circuitry. As an example, by switching the FET switches on and off, a pulsating DC current is fed to the weld inductor that generates the welding power. The processing circuitry board is also coupled to control power from the batteries to the inductor that also has a feedback loop as part of the firmware that allows for consistent power. As an example, the processing circuitry will pulse power to the inductor, but with the feedback loop, the inductor would generate a constant power. This power is generated as the inductor extends the 24 volts provided to an enhanced power.

Referring next to FIG. 4, an example inductor can include a common mode inductor, bracketed or extending to a circular inductor and a capacitor on the extended end of the common mode inductor. This is just one inductor example configuration. According to another example inductor configuration and with reference to FIGS. 5A-5C, and inductor can include at least three components: a fill coil 60 that is comprised of a laminated portion such as 120 pieces of lamination that are in a 2.25 inch wedge stacked tightly to prevent movement within the stack. This fill coil can be within a 6 layer wind that can include wire windings about a frame interior 62 that forms a tube; the windings can be configured as shown in 64. They can be 22 turns of 0.124×0.248 HAPT magnetic wire over start wires as shown to form finish wire back over coil. As an example, these components can be constructed to extend to ends 68 and 66, and the approximate height of the inductor can be 3.35 inches, and the approximate width can be approximately 3.75 sq. with a height of 68 being 12 inches minimum above the main conductor core and the height of 66 having no minimum, but the height of component 60 being approximately 0.2 inches above the windings of component 64.

In operation of welding apparatus 10, gas piping can bring inert gas into the gas solenoid valve with opens and closes depending on the welding switch trigger position desired. The piping can carry gas to the wire feed mechanism, which has the piping and welding wand integrated into it as shown. There are example operating scenarios, such as turning the switch as shown on the front panel to the on position. Adjusting the wire feed and power potentiometers can change voltages to the controller. These voltages can set up duty cycles that will be used to drive the wire feed motor and the welding power. The processing circuitry can be configured to check the battery voltages to ensure that they are adequate for welding operations and can go into standby mode to wait for the trigger switch to close. When the trigger switch is closed, the controller opens the gas flow valve, and DC pulses start the wire feed motor feeding wire down the wand. Welding continues until the trigger is released, for example. According to example implementations, the main power switch can be connected between the positive side of the lower battery and the negative side of the upper battery. Closing the switch turns on 24 volt power to the system, and there is a 12 volt voltmeter that can be configured to monitor one or more of the batteries to report on system power levels. Batteries can be recharged with a 12 volt charger accessory mounted on top of the system. Current can be monitored by a current transformer on the negative bus bar, for example. Voltage can be monitored from the power supply.

In compliance with the statute, embodiments of the invention have been described in language more or less specific as to structural and methodical features. It is to be understood, however, that the entire invention is not limited to the specific features and/or embodiments shown and/or described, since the disclosed embodiments comprise forms of putting the invention into effect. 

1. A process of providing power to a welding wand that includes pulsing power from a power source to an inductor, and then providing constant power from the inductor to the welding wand.
 2. The process of claim 1 wherein the power is pulsed from a DC power source.
 3. The process of claim 2 wherein the DC power source is a battery source.
 4. The process of claim 3 wherein the battery source is a 12 V battery source.
 5. The process of claim 3 wherein the battery source is a pair of 12 V batteries.
 6. The process of claim 5 wherein the pair of 12V batteries are aligned in series
 7. The process of claim 1 further comprising using processing circuitry to facilitate the transfer of power from the power source to the inductor and then to the wand.
 8. The process of claim 1 wherein the processing circuitry provides a feedback loop as part of firmware and monitors the providing of power using the feedback loop.
 9. The process of claim 1 further comprising feeding wiring to the welding wand.
 10. The process of claim 1 further comprising providing gases to the welding wand. 